Stress is such a powerful emotion, it can alter your mood, mental health, appetite and even your productivity. When individuals experience heightened stress levels, they typically act out of character. The primary reason for this as because stress directly impacts certain elements of your brain. Let's consider how this occurs and what you can do about it. Stress can impact how you process information. If you are under extreme amounts of pressure, you may take a simple conversation the wrong way.

This results in snapping, mood swings and perhaps depression. You may begin to process your circumstances as worse than they really are. Unfortunately, this type of stress could lead To impulsive decisions that could evoke regret. One way to combat this is to once again recognize the stress. Once you realize the parameters around your stress, you are better able to handle it. In addition, once you identify your triggers, you know how to effectively avoid them.

This will help you to further navigate what triggers you and what doesn't. The prefrontal cortex is responsible for elevated thinking. It's where advanced cognitive decision making occurs. Individuals with damaged or immature prefrontal lobes have issues with decision making and processing information. Specifically stress when your cognition is off balance, you tend to make decisions that aren't the healthiest. That's probably why people binge eat or lash out during times of heightened stress.

One of the primary ways stress plays on your cognition as by making you less aware of your surroundings and focused on the source of your stress. This makes you feel that everything is crashing down and the world is ending. The issue with this is that you are unable to make action oriented decisions. Meaning you can clearly focus on what to do to alleviate the issue. Stress plays with your cognition by inhibiting your decision making. For example, when you are stressed you are more likely to make decisions that could go against your usual routine.

This cognitive dissonance as the frustration induced by two conflicting messages. When you experience heightened stress levels, you may engage in overeating under eating unhealthy behaviors or obsessions. It's almost as if your mind is trying to resort to something of comfort so as to deal with this unfamiliar source. In the next few videos we'll build awareness of stress and come up with productive ways of reducing stress.